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National Labor Relations Board decisions on social media use mean employers should update their employee handbooks, legal experts say. The NLRB "may well find seemingly well-intentioned, reasonable policy provisions to be unlawful, if they could reasonably be interpreted as having a chilling effect on the employees' right to freely discuss their terms and conditions of work," says Sonya Rosenberg, a labor and employment lawyer.

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The National Labor Relations Board and Richard Griffin, its general counsel, have taken a number of steps that have alarmed some business advocates, writes Sean Higgins. Franchisors traditionally have been considered legally separate from franchisees, but last July Griffin authorized complaints that treated a franchisor as a joint employer, Higgins writes. The board appears to be taking a more active interest in nonunion companies, according to one lawyer.

One of the reasons for the National Labor Relations Board ruling on redefining the joint-employer status is that the agency is trying to expand its jurisdiction, increasing union representation of workers in and outside the fast food franchise setting. All employers should be keeping an eye on how the situation resolves, since it could spill over to other agencies such as the Department of Labor.

Employers can settle wrongful-termination lawsuits by paying employees who were let go without having to reinstate them, according to a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board. "Employers can save the money that they'd otherwise spend on vindicating their decision and instead package that money they would have used for defense costs as a way to resolve the dispute by paying that money to the employee," says Steve Fox, an employment lawyer.

Employers' social media policies can't ban behavior that is protected by federal law -- such as discussing wages or working conditions -- but can prohibit "mere gripes," the National Labor Relations Board said this week after issuing a report on social media cases it has reviewed. Employers should review their policies to eliminate broad language such as "communications should at all times be professional," said Doreen Davis, a labor lawyer.

Employers should review their arbitration policies after a National Labor Relations Board ruling that allowed workers to proceed with a class-action lawsuit despite having signed arbitration agreements, experts say. "No question, [the ruling] will create a lot of uncertainty. Plus, the more the Supreme Court has taken up the cause for arbitration, the more pushback there has been from Congress and some lower courts," says Philip Berkowitz, a lawyer.